High Fructose Corn Syrup Health Risks

From 1977 to 2001, consumption of sweetened beverages containing fructose rose 135 percent. In 2006 five different publications came out showing that adolescents, students and adults younger than 50 consumed as much as 20 percent of their calories from soft drinks - and do not include calories from sugar cakes and desserts. Most of this sugar comes from fructose and "fructose on steroids," also known as corn syrup rich in fructose.

These sugars are everywhere. We consume quantity incredibly high, and health costs are just beginning to be recognized. New research points to some of the possible consequences.

In one study, overweight and obese adults were invited to eat their usual diet with sugar-sweetened beverages. One group was asked to consume 25 percent of the caloric needs of the day as a drink specially sweetened with glucose (a simpler form of sugar). The other group received an identical fructose drink. Both groups were allowed to eat as little or as much of their usual diet as they wished, but they were required to drink beverages with sugar.

Not surprisingly, all subjects gained weight. But the subjects of fructose consumption-acquired intra-abdominal fat, whereas glucose subjects did not.

Why ask? Because intra-abdominal fat - the kind that makes you more of an apple, pear - is the most dangerous kind of fat to carry. It puts you at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, and a constellation of symptoms called metabolic syndrome, which is itself a path to almost certain heart disease or diabetes. The subjects of fructose consumption has also been increases in fasting insulin and fasting glucose, which are both associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Triglycerides have long been recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In this study, researchers measured triglycerides after a meal. In the fructose group, postprandial triglycerides more than doubled. In addition, men and overweight women assigned to drink beverages sweetened with fructose developed a more atherogenic lipid profile in just two weeks, which means they have been on the road to atherosclerosis.

The message is clear. Read labels carefully. Cut fructose and its cousin drugs from your diet.